Hi, I have a 8, going on 9yr old maltese who has been VERY active, runs, jumps on and off furniture, very playful running up and down hall throwing his "baby" in the air. About a month ago he seemed to be stiff getting up and later started to limp and hold his "left" leg up. We took him to the vets and she said after xrays that the xray showed the Right one was luxating and on ortho exam the left luxated also. It's his Left that he is favoring and holding up when he walks. The vet gave him a pain shot and put him on glucosamine and Rimadyl 2x daily. We are to continue this treatment for 2 weeks to see if we can manage it, if not will get Ortho referal. I guess my question is has anyone ever had their dog get better to where they didnt need the surgery...can they be made comfortable and return to a similar life style without surgery??? I am just worried sick and have cried over it. Any info would be greatly appreciated, thank you

If you have a grade 3, surgery is wise. Grade 2 can be iffy, it really just depends on how bad it is. Problem is when both knees bad, the other will get worse in time. I always believe in trying meds before surgery. My poodle is a right at a high 1/low 2. she will be 10 in Oct. I have always treated with glucosamine. She runs and plays, and does fine, but time will tell if it is going to get worse as she ages.

No thank you! I guess I'm jumping to conclusions, the Vet said to wait 2 weeks and its only been 3 days. Who knows if I can keep him quiet and keep up with meds he will be ok....here's hoping. Thank you for your response

I have a 11 month old Boston Terrier puppy that just had the surgery a week ago on her left leg that was stage 3. She has stage 2 in the right leg. I saw my original vet a little about a month ago and told them she was holding her left leg up alot, so they examined her and said she had luxating patellas in both legs and will need surgery. The gave me a quote of $3000. for each leg. I was so upset I didnt know what to do. I had heard of the glucosamine supplements so I started her on those. In the mean time I went to another vet that was highly recommended to me by many people for a second opinion. I didnt tell them what the first vet had found, I went in playing dumb and sure enough they found the same thing. The thing that was different was they were only going to charge me $900. per leg. It turned out only her left leg needed it. Like I said it was done a week ago and so far she is doing well. I did alot of homework and my opinion is if you find a vet that you really trust, listen to what they tell you to do. It's something I found out is really common is small breed dogs. So far the worse thing about it is the recovery time. it's two months so they cant do much for that long. The new vet told me the supplements are great to keep her on for the rest of her life because it will help with arthritis (dogs with this are prone to arthritis) but it wont help the damage thats already started with the luxating patellas. I know how you must feel but make sure you trust your vet and what they tell you. Good Luck!!